Love Feels Like
by The Glittery Ninja Espada
Summary: Following a few days after the aftermath of the Journey to the Center of Mikey's Mind, the brothers try to understand their youngest's pent-up anger. They find that the best way to do that is ... just to let Mikey be Mikey. Oneshot.


**This is a kinda pointless oneshot that I was originally going to make into a full-fledged story, but didn't have enough time to. It revolves around the bros reacting to Mikey's pent up anger, and how they try to help him. I do not claim to know about anger issues and anything in here is purely fictional. Also, I know that the title of this story is also the title of one of TobyMac's song (ft. DC Talk), so yeah, it's not mine.**

 **Disclaimer: If I owned the Turtles, there would be no romance, no space arc (no matter how fun it is), more Mikey-centric episodes, and more bro fluff.**

* * *

"Ohhhh..." Mikey growled as he rolled off the couch and flopped onto the hard floor of the Fugitoid's spaceship. He cupped his hands over his mouth to keep himself from vomiting. "I think I'm gonna be sick, yo."

Leo looked up from where he and Professor Honeycutt were looking at a computerized, intergalactic map of the passing solar system.

"Serves you right for eating that...whatever it was. The thing you called pizza." He and the Professor shared a glance. "Especially after Donnie _told_ you that that so called 'pizza' wasn't suitable for mutant consumption."

Mikey got up wearily, teetering dangerously on his wobbly legs. "I know dude, but it looked _so_ good. How are you gonna stop a turtle who's hungry before eating something so delicious-" He let out a huge belch. "Looking?"

Leo rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the map. "The same way me, Donnie, Raph, and the rest of the gang managed to."

He wiped his brow of sweat. He and the Professor had spent the last few hours pouring over the same map, trying to find a way to navigate through the Detritosphere solar system in order to look for a piece of the Black Hole Generator. It hadn't been easy, as the Detritosphere solar system was renowned for its protective belt of "space trash" encircling the whole system. The Professor's ship, however small it may have been, was still far too big to fit through the small crevices in the barrier, and it was impossible to pass around, as there were enough armored guards to take down the entire ship without even breaking a sweat if they were seen. Needing a distraction, he momentarily again turned his attention to Mikey.

"And besides. Your 'pizza' didn't even look like pizza."

"Hey!" Mikey called as he ambled his way over to the station where Honeycutt and Leo were working. "I calls them as I sees them! That definitely looked like a pizza to me."

"Yeah, if you consider 'pizza' to be a giant decagon covered in black ooze and and various toppings that look like they've been marinated in garbage for weeks."

"Dude, we live in a _sewer_! When did you get so classy?" Mikey grumbled as he peered over Leo's shoulder.

"Boys, if you please!" The mechanically upset voice of the Fugitoid broke through the banter. "Without finding a way through the Detritosphere, we'll never be able to get through the Malkenstan solar system, which is where one of my leads say we will find a piece of the Black Hole Generator!"

"Lighten _up_ , Prof," Mikey laughed as he clutched one hand to his stomach and waved the other nonchalantly, and pointed to the map. "It'll be _easy_ to get through the Detrit-whatever-you-call-it-o-spear."

Leo looked at Mikey amusedly. Ever since the Journey to the Center of Mikey's Mind, Leo had tried to make an effort and understand Mikey a little better, and tried to see the way behind his thinking, going so far as to ask him. There was thought behind his words, that much was obvious, but what wasn't obvious was how Leo pieced them together. "How so, Mikey?"

"Psh, _obviously_ dude-" Mikey said proudly, pointing to a section of the "space trash belt". Obviously his ego hadn't suffered the worse for it. "We cloak the ship and go _around_ the belt."

Leo and Honeycutt exchanged surprised looks.

"I-I hadn't even thought of that! How did you come up with that?" Leo sputtered, shaking his little brother's shoulders in excitement.

Mikey shrugged. "Comic books, bro." As if that explained everything.

"You're a genius, Mikey!" Leo exclaimed.

"I'll have to fine-tune the cloaking mechanisms, but I have a feeling young Michelangelo is on to something!" The Professor turned around to the ship's control panel, and Leo followed him, although not before slipping Mikey an encouraging smile.

Mikey smiled back, his previous nausea forgotten.

Today could have been the worst day of his entire life, but if Leo smiled at him like that, a smile oozing with belief, Mikey was sure his day would've brightened considerably.

* * *

"Psst, Donnie," Raph whispered to his brother as he carefully aligned four beakers together and dropped small vials of colorful liquid into each one.

Upon hearing Raph's voice, Donnie jumped, and nearly fumbled one of the glass tubes. He gave his brother a pointed stare.

"Sheesh, Raph, knock would you? In case you haven't noticed, I'm in the middle of a very delicate experiment here."

"Oh, sorry," Raph drawled sarcastically as he purposely leaned heavily against the lab table. "I'm just worried that one of our brothers' are going through an emotional crisis and might be liable to masking all this under a disgustingly happy disguise."

Donnie rolled his eyes, still concentrating on the beakers. "Last time you said _that one_ , Raph, it was an excuse to get me out of my lab so you could frame me for blowing up the oven!"

"Good times, good times," Raph laughed nostalgically at his brother's expense. "Anyways," he glared at Donnie. "This time, I mean it."

Donnie snorted. "That's what you said _last_ time, Raph."

"Come _on_ , Donnie, we were _five_ back then. Just kids! Besides Mikey of course, we've matured." He was obviously mentioning their little adventure into Mikey's mind, where they saw he was just a six-year old at heart...and mind.

Donnie turned around, his brown eyes boring into Raph's green ones mischievously. "Oh yeah? Then why did I see you, Mr. Mature, cuddling with Mr. Huggles, the sparkling pink dragon, yesterday before you went to sleep?"

Raph's cheeks darkened to a very unbecoming shade of pink. "I-I have no idea what you're talking about," he stammered defensively, his fingers curling into wrists as if he was ready for a fight.

Seeing this, Donnie winked. "Don't worry, Raph, your secret's safe with me."

Raph let out a cry of rage as he lunged for his brother, who easily sidestepped laughingly. Raphael crashed to the ship's lab floors with an angry thud.

"Wait 'till I get my hands on you, Donnie!" He let out a string of words Master Splinter probably wouldn't have found appropriate. "I'll wipe that stupid smirk off of you faster than bacon grease off of Mikey's face!"

Upon hearing himself say Mikey's name, Raph tensed and got back on his feet, his previous anger forgotten. Momentarily.

"Oh shell, that's what I came here to talk to you about," Raph said seriously.

Donnie looked at him inquisitively. "Wiping bacon grease off of Mikey's face? I'm sorry Raph, but I've got much more important things to do that discuss Mikey's eating habits here with you." His attention was immediately turned from teasing Raph to back to his lab.

"No, shell-for-brains!" Raph cried, landing a smack on the top of Donnie's head. "I wanted to talk about _Mikey_!" He turned his gaze to the ground and cleared his throat. "The knuckehead's worrying me."

"Raph? Worrying about Mikey?" Donnie pivoted so that he was facing Raph, although he failed to look worried. "Now this _must_ be important." His eyes widened in fear. "He hasn't eaten that alien space internal body cleanser-the thing he thought was pizza-has he?"

"How am I supposed to know?" Raph took a deep breath after giving Donnie an odd look about the "internal body cleanser" thing. "Have you noticed anything different about him-recently?"

Donnie shook his head. "Nope. To be honest, I've been holed up in my lab all day, trying to perfect this Kerizyote serum, which _you_ ," He gave Raph a pointed look as he held up one of his vials. "Interrupted."

Raph growled, not bothering to ask what a Kerizyote serum was. "Yeah, but I've noticed something."

"Do tell," Donnie drawled boredly, his attention drifting back to his serum.

Raph slapped Donnie on the cheek with force. "C'mon Donnie, I need your full attention for this. It's serious."

With a sigh, Donatello turned to his brother begrudgingly. "All right, Raph, spit it out. What is it?"

"Okay," Raph began, taking a deep breath. "You know how we went into Mikey's mind a few days ago?"

"And met Anger, Funny, Weird and Gluttony? Yes Raph, I remember; how could I forget? We met Mikey's inner self and fought the Neutrinos-which by the way-shouldn't have been scientifically possible-"

"Okay, okay, Donnie I get it!" Raph grumbled as he smashed his palm against Donnie's mouth in order to effectively shut him up. "Anyways, you remember how Anger was the biggest, and Funny was the smallest?" He waited until Donnie gave a curt nod before continuing. "Any idea _why_ Anger was the biggest?"

"To be honest, Raph," Donnie began. "I've been wondering that too. It doesn't make sense, I've never seen Mikey truly angry except during our battles, and even then he's pretty laid-back."

Raph slammed his fist on the lab table in frustration, and Donnie's vials went flying. Letting out a squeal of distress, the purple banded Turtle leaped into the air and managed to catch all four quite comically without spilling a drop. He gave his red-masked brother a glare.

Raph, used to this kind of treatment, stared back defiantly and continued. "I've been thinking though-"

"Oh good, at least one of us is," Donnie interrupted grumpily as he rearranged his beakers and other experimental equipment.

"Donnie, will you _shut_ up? I'm trying to say something important here!" Raph growled, crossing his hands over his chest. He landed a solid punch on Donnie's shoulder, and the purple Turtle winced in pain.

"Fine. Shutting up now," Donnie muttered, still holding his equipment but turned his head to Raph.

"You'd better," Raph nodded, fire still in his eyes. He paused and wondered out loud. "There's no reason for Mikey to be angry, he practically _lives_ off of laughter."

"And yet his Funny inner-self was the smallest," Donnie pointed out, using his hands to mimic the sheer miniscule-ness of the Funny self compared to the rest of them.

"Yeah, and Anger was bigger than all of us combined," said Raph, thinking out loud.

A few minutes of abnormal silence passed before Donnie spoke. "I have a theory, though. It doesn't make much sense, but it's the only reasoning I could come up with." He continued to stare off into space.

Raph, beginning to become impatient, finally snapped. "Well? What's your brilliant idea, then?"

Donnie shook his head in disbelief. "Well, the only thing that would make much sense would be that Mikey has a lot of pent-up anger inside. He uses his funny side to mask his anger, but I doubt it's easy."

"But Mikey has no reason to be angry-does he? I mean, hardly anything serious upsets the kid, and the worst thing that could happen to him right now is that pizza would be declared illegal in the entire universe." Raph was very much confused, but stood in a defensive stance to mask it.

"Like that'll ever happen," Donnie snorted. He looked thoughtful for a moment. "We _could_ ask him. Get some intel on his emotions."

He was rewarded with a smack on the head from Raph. "Why do you think I came here to talk to you, numbskull? I didn't want want to talk to Mikey about his feelings."

Donnie nodded, his mind elsewhere. "Yeah, probably for the best. I doubt we'd get any information from him anyways."

"Then what are we gonna do, genius?" Raph retorted.

Donnie shrugged. "What _can_ we do, Raph? It's just his anger, and obviously, he's doing fine coping with it."

"Coping? _Coping_?" Raph exclaimed, a fiery blaze settling in his eyes. "How is penting up all your anger coping?"

"Speak for yourself, Neanderthal," Donnie grumbled.

"I don't pent up my anger, Donnie!" Raph shouted furiously, grabbing his brother by the shoulder.

Looking down at Raph's brown-bandaged fingers on his shoulder blades, Donnie nodded. "Yeah, I can see that."

Raph whipped off his hands and took a few deep breaths, calming himself. "I know. But Mikey's not like that. He'll take the hits, and I've never had any idea what he did with his anger. He keeps it pent up, we saw that a few days ago in his mind. One day he's gonna break."

Donnie raised an eyebrow, trying to understand. "What do you suggest we do?"

Raph started to pace on the lab floor. "How am I supposed to know? That's why I came here to ask you. Leo's busy with the Professor, Casey and April wouldn't understand, and like I said, there's no way in shell that I'm gonna talk to Mikey about this."

Donnie sighed tiredly. "Why don't we try what Leo's doing?"

"You mean sit around and stare at space maps all day? No thanks," Raph grumbled.

"No, bonehead, I meant, _try to understand_ him." Donnie rolled his eyes. Hotheads could be so dense sometimes.

Raph looked at Donnie confusedly, blinking rapidly, an appalled look on his face. " _Understand_ him? What, no therapy, no nothing?"

Donatello rolled his eyes. "Why would we give him therapy?"

"I-I don't know! Anything to make him better!" Raph sputtered.

"There's nothing _wrong_ with him Raph, there never has been." Done with the conversation, he began to return his attention to his experiment. "Besides, you have anger issues, would you want someone go all 'therapy' on you?"

Raph looked down, bowing his head in understanding. He was quiet for a few moments. "No-no, I wouldn't. I would-I would just want someone who understood me." He looked up, and his brother nodded. "You're right-nothing's wrong with Mikey-I-I knew that. I-I-I guess I just want to keep him from doing something he'll regret if his anger ever explodes." Raph sighed. He had more than his fair share of those times.

Donnie placed a hand on Raph's shoulder knowingly. "And it won't-if we help him, and understand him."

Raph looked at Donnie and then smirked. "When did you become so wise?"

The purple-clad Turtle laughed and his remaining attention was directed towards his serum. "Oh, don't thank me, it was all Leo."

* * *

"Okay team," Leo began as he addressed his brothers, Casey, April and the Fugitoid. He held a map of the nearby solar systems in his hand. "We've got a plan on how to navigate the Detritosphere solar system." He glanced at Mikey, who was nonchalantly drumming his fingers on his plastron, his mind elsewhere. Leo broke into a smile. "Actually, _Mikey's_ got a plan to navigate the Detritosphere solar system."

Pulled out his imagination, Mikey looked around confusedly. "Huh? I've got a what now, dude?"

Leo cleared his throat expectantly. "The plan. Mikey, the _plan_."

"All right!" Mikey exclaimed, fist-pumping the air. "The plan!" He looked around at his brothers, who returned his looks with confused glances. "What's the plan?"

Leo groaned in exasperation, rubbing his hands across his mask frustratedly, but he didn't let his patience break. He knew the best way in understanding Mikey was in part to tolerate his Weirdness. "The plan you came up with when you were moaning around on the couch and randomly decided to help me and the Professor?"

Mikey slapped his head, remembering. "Oh, _that_ plan!" He shook a finger at Leo goofily. "You coulda made it a little more clear, dude!"

"I-I-" Leo stammered, his anger all over the place. _Calm. Calm._ Calm. "Oh-never mind."

The orange-clad Turtle shrugged. " Fine by me, yo." He got up out of his seat and turned to the rest of the team. "So, I was thinking-" He paused. This was usually the time when one of his brother's included one of their famous 'oh good, at least one of us was', lines. When no snarky remark came, he continued. "We cloak the ship and go around the De-trash-o-shear."

Donnie looked at him in surprise. "Huh, that's actually not half-bad an idea, Mikey."

"Yeah Mike," Raph said encouragingly. "Where'd you come up with that?"

Mikey glared at Raph jokingly and put his hands on hips. "Come on dude, you know better than _anyone_ , that that'd ruin the surprise!"

"Yeah Raph," Leo laughed. "Obviously."

Casey looked back and forth between the four brothers. "You guys are acting really freaky."

Raph gave his friend a glare. "Like you're one to talk, Jones."

"Hey, all I'm saying is that you guys aren't usually so friendly-family with each other," Casey retorted, holding up his hands in surrender.

"Well," Raph began as he looped a hand over Mikey's shoulders and another over Donnie's and Leo joined in. "We're going to change that. Starting now." He gave a sidelong glance at Mikey.

Giving them odd looks, Casey Jones bravely walked out the door, dragging a defiant April along with him.

"They've gone rogue," He whispered to her. "Or at least are being mind-controlled."

The four brothers started to laugh quietly, silently feeling their Master's presence fill the air. Or they did until Mikey let out a soft groan.

"Uh, dudes? I think I've gotta go to the bathroom."

Leo and Raph quickly jumped out of the embrace, and Donnie gave Mikey an accusing stare.

"You didn't eat that alien space internal body cleanser that you thought was pizza-the thing I told you not to eat-did you?"

His only reply was Mikey's nervous laughter.

Mikey's nervous yelps reverberated off the spaceship's walls as Donnie ran after him yelling the most familiar thing of all.

"MIKEY!"


End file.
